In downtown Langford, it doesn’t take long to find someone with a terrifying tale of a run-in on the roads.
Caroline Stengl said an accident years ago is still fresh in her family’s memory.
“My grandmother was disabled for most of her life because a policeman passed someone stopped at a crosswalk. And smashed into her many years ago,” said Stengl.
“So it’s very part of my family history.”
Tragically, a string of serious motor vehicle incidents kicked off the Labour Day long weekend in Greater Victoria.
On Friday night, a driver struck and killed a 76-year-old woman walking in a marked crosswalk at Interurban and Grange roads in Saanich.
Several hours later, there was a second crash.
A single-vehicle incident involved a motorcyclist crashing near Gorge Road West and Tillicum Road.
This crash, captured on security camera, took place Saturday afternoon in Victoria. The driver of an SUV runs a red light, crashes into a BC Transit bus heading northbound on Douglas Street, then strikes a second vehicle.
At least two people are injured and taken to hospital.
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One Victoria councillor, Dave Thompson, says something needs to be done to make our roads safer.
And he has a plan.
“This Thursday, I’ve got a motion before council that will be saying: Can we please ask the province to install red light cameras and speed cameras throughout Victoria at our worst intersections?” said Thompson.
In Greater Victoria, there are red light cameras at just two intersections — one at Shelbourne Street and Hillside Avenue in Victoria, and the other at the Trans-Canada Highway and Tillicum Road in Saanich.
Neither intersection even made ICBC’s top ten worst intersections on Vancouver Island. Every year in Victoria, an average of 800 crashes result in injuries or death.
“I think as quickly as we can get them installed, the better. Every day we delay, we are probably having, on average, two or three casualty crashes. And we need people to take driving seriously. Slow down and stop for red lights,” said Thompson.
Small measures are already in place, like a verbal warning for pedestrians crossing Goldstream Avenue.
“It doesn’t hurt to be safer,” added Stengl.
The investigation into Friday’s fatality continues. The driver is cooperating with police.
Mary Griffin
